Cross Posted At Daily Kos
Jessica Vanden Berg has worked on numerous successful campaigns, most notably General Wesley Clark's 2004 campaign. She was a very superb Campaign manager for Senator-Elect Jim Webb. Vanden Berg managed the key primary state of Oklahoma, the only state General Clark won during the primary. Vanden Berg continues to advise General Clark. On November 30th at the University of Virginia's 9th Annual American Democracy Conference she represented General Wesley Clark's potential 2008 candidacy.
It has been some time since our victory that I wanted to write a few thank you diaries.
I think every single person who contributed to this campaign in Virginia this year deserves thanks along with congratulations because every single contribution resulted in our win.
First and foremost thanks is credited to Jessica Vanden Berg.
When I first got involved in Jim Webb's Senate Campaign early in 2006 I was a little known young man who had a deep interest in politics and the internet.
I myself had contributed to John Hlinko's early efforts during the Draft Clark movement of 2003. I carried that passion with me when I moved here to Virginia.
I found it easy to be critical of what I didn't know and what I didn't see at the onset of my experience with this campaign. If you can recall I asked at one point, "Can The Webb Campaign Do More?" shortly after the primary win.
What I didn't realize is I needed to do more. I can remember Lowell Feld telling me he was asked by staffers "Who's this Montoya guy".
After a beer courtesy of Jessica, and becoming more involved in this campaign did I realize how hard it is to be in Jessica Vanden Berg's position.
It very easy to question, to criticize, but it's very hard for any person to take on the responsibilities that she had at the helm of this campaign.
Jessica Vanden Berg was the right person for this job, and she was also the best person for this job. I could have never done what she did here in Virginia.
Her dedication, patience, and intelligence made everything possible in this campaign. Jessica Vanden Berg is an asset to any political campaign, office holder, or organization in this country.
Jessica, it's me who owes you a beer now.
You really pulled off a major one with this election, and I look very forward to working with you again in the near future.
Did anyone catch Jess yesterday on the Washington Journal panel of "advisors" to the potential presidential candidates? Might be able to catch a replay if you check the schedule. Advisors to Vilsak, Edwards and Clark fielded questions, including first round question and
answers. Edwards's rep, and most other reps, talked about the economy as the reason voters turned out the majority party. Jessica, was introduced as Jim Webb's campaign manager and General Clark's OK State Director (his win) and a Clark strategist. Jessica said in Webb's race, economic populism was important in the rural areas...but that Webb did not cede anything and most importantly, did not cede national security or Iraq. That Democrats cannot cede these issues in '08 and national security credentials will be important.
Of note, the moderator said they had pursued aggressively reps from Clinton and Obama who chose not to send anyone.
And I remember trying to calm down a few frustrated people telling them that things would improve - but I wasn't all that confident myself! And I mailed 1/2 of my precious few bumper stickers to someone just hoping that things would get better. But still I wasn't so sure.
That was the low point. But sure enough, things got a whole lot better. And the silver lining is that now there is a very strong network of folks throughout the state who are experienced in acting independently and making our own decisions.
Jessica, you did an outstanding job. We have the proof and many many thanks for all of your hard work.
Every time without exception when Webb or his campaign staff called for volunteers, they came. They flooded in almost without warning, all shapes, sizes, ages, color, from everywhere, driving long distances, scratching out an hour or two here or there fresh off a Metro ride out of work or class, willingly, endlessly, sometimes driving the paid staff bonkers. But they came, right up to the very end, when you could scarcely walk down the hall to get to the restroom because they were sprawled long the walls making calls on their cell phones as late as 20 minutes to poll closing. "From the bottom up," just as Webb had claimed.
And you know what? This sometimes scared the bejeezus out of old time Establishment types, who saw the volunteers as beyond their control, when they were "supposed" to be mere grunts, mindless labor. Yet it was volunteers who pulled the voters across the finish line. Webb had picked excellent paid staff, but in a money-cramped campaign, it's willing unpaid hands that had to make decisions on their own, improvise-- remember the wonderful "Webb Wagon" and the tri-fold info panels and the tabling and the Metro lit drops?)
You don't get that kind of dedicated volunteers without an outstanding candidate. It just might be the tip of the iceberg, or maybe a straw in the wind showing that the thinking progressives are rising to take the Democratic Party back to its roots.